Today's massive amounts of digital data have caused researchers worldwide to develop data storage technologies, such as DNA-based storage, that are meant to be capable of keeping data for the longest possible time.
Now, a new mini disc developed by researchers in the United Kingdom is said to be able to store up to 300 terabytes worth of information for billions of years without suffering any deterioration of its digital contents.
Engineers at the Optoelectronics Research Center (ORC) in the University of Southampton devised a revolutionary way to record and retrieve five dimensional (5D) data on a nanostructured glass disc using femtosecond lasers.
The new technology has been referred to as the "Superman memory crystal" because of its similarity to the "memory crystals" that Superman used to access information in his Fortress of Solitude in the film series.
Memory Storage
The properties of the glass disc allow it to store up to 360 terabytes of digital data and withstand extreme temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius (1,832 degrees Fahrenheit).
If the disc is stored at room temperatures of up to 190 degrees Celsius (374 degrees Fahrenheit), it can last about 13.8 billion years without compromising its storage capability.
The researchers believe that the new technology offers a safe and stable form of memory storage that can be used to keep large volumes of information for various organizations such as libraries, museums and national archives.
It builds upon the concept [pdf] first introduced in 2013 when ORC researchers recorded a 300 kilobyte text file using the 5D digital data format.
Since then, the engineers have successfully stored digital copies of historical documents including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Magna Carta, the Kings James Bible and Newton's Opticks.
The ORC unveiled a 5D digital copy of the UDHR in a glass disc during the closing ceremony of the United Nation's International Year of Light in Mexico.
Information was stored on the disc using ultrafast lasers, which produced intense yet very short light pulses. The digital file was encoded using multiple layers of nanostructured dots that were kept five micrometers, or one millionth of a meter, apart.
These nanostructures serve to alter the way light is able to travel through the glass disc. This effectively modifies the polarization of light, allowing it to be read through the use of a polarizer and an optical microscope much like the ones used in making Polaroid sunglasses.
"It is thrilling to think that we have created the technology to preserve documents and information and store it in space for future generations," Peter Kazansky, a professor at the Optoelectronics Research Center, said. "This technology can secure the last evidence of our civilization: all we've learnt will not be forgotten."
The ORC engineers are set to present their new technology at the upcoming International Society for Optical Engineering Conference in California.
